Seeking and Traveling Deeper
Silk Trade and Pilgrim Routes of Southern Armenia
Silk Trade and Pilgrim Routes of Southern Armenia. A journey from the sophisticated streets of Yerevan to the mountains of Southern Armenia discovering the hidden trade and pilgrim routes and among the ancient and modern villages of rural Armenia
Journey essentials
- 12 days/11 nights from Yerevan
- Internationally and locally led by experts in rural development and Armenia
- 4 nights in a high quality, boutique hotel in Yerevan
- 2 night in hotels in Southern Armenia (Goris and Yeghegis)
- 5 nights supported camp trekking in Southern Armenia (Supported by 4WD vehicle to transport luggage and equipment)
- 6 days of moderate trekking in total.
- Price: from £1660
Journey dates:
2022: Inaugural journey 25th April to 5th May 2022
Additional journeys in Spring and Autumn (contact us for exact dates)
Journey highlights
A scenic, cultural and historic journey
- Historical and cultural sites of the sophisticated city of Yerevan
- Discovering Armenia’s 6000 year old wine making tradition (and collecting modern wine for our journey)
- Traveling to stay at the remote mountain village of Khachik to watch the sun descend behind soaring snow-capped Mount Ararat (5137M)
- Exploring the habitat of the Caucasian Leopard and the impressive Bezoar Goat with WWF community rangers as part of a collaboration to support emerging Ecco-tourism in Armenia
- Pioneering a route through the Vorotan River Gorge that has not been walked by other trekking groups.
- Travelling along hidden trails, village paths and mountain tracks and through natural forest, high mountain pastures and rocky hillsides with stunning views.
- Staying in and exploring the ancient ghost villages that were forcibly evacuated during the soviet era.
- Staying beside mountain villages far from any tourist trail and in villages where groups have never stayed before.
- Having local villagers s host or join us for meals to explore the food, culture, history, legends and modern life of rural Armenia.
- Discovering well known but also hidden ancient churches, monasteries, cave cities and monuments of a truly ancient land.
- Puzzling about the meaning of the prehistoric standing stones of Zorats Karer reputed to be an ancient celestial observatory.
Background of the journey
Our founder, Gavin Anderson, has advised on rural development projects in Armenia for more than 13 years. He has built up a relationship with small local development organisations, conservation bodies and mountain communities. This unique journey was developed by Nomadic Skies in collaboration with a small local rural development organisation (SDA), The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Armenia, local mountain communities and Gevorg Gasparyen a leading mountain climber trek leader, who Gavin first met around 10 years ago when he was working as a veterinarian adviser in hill communities in Armenia.
Map of our Journey
Silk Trade and pilgrim routes of Southern Armenia
01
Tour
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A unique trekking journey to the sacred and other-worldly Lake Phoksundo among little visited villages, monastries and stunning landscapes of the hidden, culturally Tibetan valleys of the High Himalaya of North West Nepal.
2022: Trips starting May, September and November (contact us for dates)
02
Tour
The bio-diverse Virunga of South West Uganda
Now being developed with our pioneer journey in summer 2022
An extraordinary journey by foot among little visited villages, through equatorial forest, across crater lakes by dug-out-canoe and to the African Alpine zone of the high Virunga Volcanoes - the habitat of the Mountain Gorilla.
2022: Inaugural journey in July (contact us for dates)
03
Tour
Footsteps of Mathiessen's Snow Leopard
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A unique journey retracing the footsteps of the 1973 expedition of author Peter Matthiessen to the sacred Crystal Mountain of Upper Dolpo that resulted in the cult travel book 'The Snow Leopard'. The journey is being undertaken with biographer Lance Richardson as research for a major official biography of Matthiessen.
2021: New dates 14th September to 6th October 2021
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